CRN Technical Editor Mario Morejon recently met with Byron Sebastian, vice president and general manager AT BEA Systems' WebLogic Workshop and Portal Group, who offered advice on overcoming some of today's technical hurdles when building Web services and a service-oriented architecture (SOA)

CRN Editor/NEWS Steven Burke and Senior Editor Edward F. Moltzen met recently with Stewart Krentzman, CEO of Oki Data America, A maker of printers, copiers and other technology, WHO SPOKE about the company's business and channel strategies. Here are excerpts from that interview:

Last July at Computer Associates International's annual partner conference, Dr. Henry Kissinger pointed to the accelerating migration offshore of programming jobs and other IT services-related positions as a disturbing development worthy of national policy.

'Think Red' campaign aims to raise profile

Special Report: 20 to Watch and Economic Outlook 2004

The phoenix is a perfect image for the high-tech industry as it enters a new year amid signs of economic rebirth. This special report includes 20 technologies, trends, people and companies that solution providers should keep an eye on during the next 12 months, as well as CRN Research's take on the future of the economy and IT spending.

Accpac deal could create channel powerhouse in SMB arena

When Best Software absorbs the products and operations of Accpac International, the combined company could become the product and channel powerhouse that finally gives Microsoft some real competition in the small- and midsize-business market.

The blight of malicious code in 2003 proved that viruses, worms and other Internet threats can have a staggering impact on business if not caught before entering a company's perimeter. However, by the time most companies learn about a new threat, it's too late to do much about it.

The computer industry is going through a whirlwind digital revolution in the sense that the next generation of users will demand an extraordinary level of realism and 3-D graphics from games and digital content creation applications. PC users are clamoring for more out of their systems, more from their technology, and it is all being fueled by gaming and multimedia. The time for 64-bit processing has arrived.

Increasing competition in the development tool market has pushed vendors to combine their offerings into single products or sell them as suites. In the Web tool market, for instance, with the exception of some XML technologies, vendors are repackaging their tools into suites or, in the case of Oasyssoft, a Barcleona, Spain-based consulting company, offering alternative development methodologies to traditional Web tools such as Dreamweaver.

New CEO Bill Nuti explains why he’s upbeat after many months of struggle

No matter when its fiscal year ends, every company begins January with a new sense of hope and expectation. No where, I bet, is that more true than at Symbol, which has a new CEO and a fresh outlook to start the new year.

IBM Wednesday announced it had struck a 10-year deal with Target to manage its mainframe infrastructure using an on-demand approach where the giant retailer will pay only for the computing horsepower it uses.

Fueled largely by a surge in demand for mobile phones and PCs, the worldwide semiconductor market will rise 18 percent in 2004, International Data Corp. said Tuesday. IDC cited China as a key market that will drive the semiconductor industry in future years.